Sauve answers questions about shooting deaths

Timeline, maps provide more details in Monday's event in Town of Pound

Marinette County Sheriff Jerry Sauve goes over incidents in the shooting of Tyler Walk, 26, of Marinette at a news conference at the Marinette Law Enforcement Center Wednesday. EagleHerald/Rick Gebhard

MARINETTE - Marinette County Sheriff Jerry Sauve provided more information Wednesday about Monday's shooting incident in the Town of Pound that took the lives of two men.At a news conference held at the Law Enforcement Center at 2 p.m., Sauve expressed his condolences to the families of both victims, Tyler S. Walk, 26, of Marinette, and Manfred M. Eisenheim, 76, of North 5th Road, Pound.He said his department's investigation into the shootings, which started shortly after 10 p.m. Monday, indicate that Walk was a homicide victim, having been shot by Eisenheim. Eisenheim died of gunshot wounds inflicted by deputies early Tuesday, around 1:13 a.m., while he sat in his vehicle in his own driveway.Sauve provided a timeline that added some new information to explain how the events unfolded.Walk, who was a frequent visitor to his aunt and uncle's (Behnke) cabin at N3097 North 5th Road, called 911 at 10:09 p.m. Monday to report someone was parked at the cabin. He was asked to provide the fire number and did so by going out to the road in his vehicle.While on the call with dispatchers, Walk said "I think he has a gun," and dispatchers heard inaudible noises that included the sounds of something smashing.At 10:16, just five minutes later, the residents of N3126 North 5th Road, a home just north of the Behnke cabin, called 911 to report a vehicle crashing into a garage on their property.Sauve showed, on a satellite photo of the area, how Walk's vehicle traveled north on North 5th Road, through a group of trees, before striking the garage.The first deputy was on the scene at 10:23; the second, at 10:30.After determining that Walk had been shot, Sauve said the Marinette County Special Response Team was activated. Neighbors in the area, including the family at the residence where Walk's vehicle struck the garage, were evacuated.It was during that time that Brown County Sheriff's Department was called, and the armored vehicle arrived around 12:49 a.m.Sauve said that Walk had given a description of the vehicle parked at the Behnke cabin as a Maroon SUV.At 12:50, officers located that vehicle parked at N3087 North 5th Road, which was Eisenheim's residence.The home is the next residence on North 5th Road, south of the Behnke cabin. Sauve said Eisenheim was a bachelor, had no children, and lived alone at the residence. An investigation at his home and discussions with relatives indicate Eisenheim may have been dealing with some mental health issues, Sauve said.The department learned from neighbors during the investigation that there may have been some problems, but he did not have any pending restraining orders or police issues, Sauve said.Eisenheim was in his vehicle when officers in the Brown County Sheriff's Department Bearcat armored vehicle pulled in to his driveway at 12:50, and they immediately saw he had two weapons in his vehicle, a long gun and a handgun. He was observed getting his keys, so the officers in the Bearcat pinned the vehicle against Eisenheim's garage to prevent him from leaving.The timeline shows that things moved quickly on the scene, with officers observing Eisenheim trying to access a weapon, but setting it down, then locking his doors.While pepper spray was deployed, he did not respond to repeated commands to surrender his weapons or to surrender to authorities, Sauve said Tuesday evening."It had no effect," Sauve said Tuesday. "He then leveled his shotgun upwards toward the officers and the three deputies all fired rounds."That was at 1:13 a.m.The three deputies, Robert Amundson, Jesse Parker and Steven Schmidt, are on administrative leave while the sheriff's department and the Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation, investigate the officer-related shooting.Sauve said his department is short-handed when one officer is out from injury or illness. "Now we have three out going into a holiday weekend," he said.Sauve said the department now will focus on the well-being of his officers, who still have to go through interviews with DOJ and the sheriff's department. The department also will provide any help they would require. "We'll see they get whatever they need," Sauve said. "These are fine officers."Sauve said Tuesday he is confident the officers' role in shooting Eisenheim will be cleared.This was a difficult event for his department, Sauve said, whose officers were placed in harm's way. "We've been through a lot and we still have a lot to do."Sauve said, "(It) certainly ranks up there with unusual, tragic. We've seen a lot up here. We've seen our share of bad things, but that's what we do. And once again, I want to commend our people."There still are no answers as to why this happened, Sauve said."Why did he (Eisenheim) go there? Why did he do what he did? Why did Tyler go there when he did? Why did this happen? We just don't know."It is still an open investigation, Sauve said, as the department waits on toxicology reports and other evidence.Sauve said that he lives by this saying: "When things are at their worst, we need to be at our best."Speaking on behalf of his department, he said, "I think we were."